Food feeding and packaging equipment

ABSTRACT

THE MACHINE IS DESIGNED TO RECEIVE INDISCRIMINATELY ARRANGED ARTICLES AND TO FEED AND RE-ARRANGE THEM IN TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL ROWS, SO THAT FOOD ARTICLES (SUCH AS DOUGHNUTS) ARE FED INTO A COLLATING AND DISPENSING MECHANISM WHEREIN A DESIRED NUMBER OF DOUGHNUTS, FOR   EXAMPLE, ARE ARRANGED IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION ABOVE AN OPEN BOX INTO WHICH THEY ARE PLACED.

Jan. 26,15571 A Rfk.' 1DAucal-l15m-Y ET AL A FOOD FEEDING AND PACKAGINGEQUIPMENT 'l' Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 25,. 1968 INVENTORS. POuL H.BAUMANN RALPH K.DAUGHERT.Y BY

446% ff /f ATTORNEYS 5 Filed'nec. 25, 196s R. K. DAUGHERTY ETALA FODFEE-DING AND" PACKAGING 'EQUIPMENT I I Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. POUL H.BAUMANN RALPH K. DAUGHERTY ATTORNEYS y Y FooD FEEDING AND PACKAGINGEQUIPMENT Filed Dec. 25, 196e fr sheets-sheet s .FIGA @o INVENTOR. POUL.H. BAUMANN ATTORNQYS RALPH K.DAUGHERTY Jim 26, 1971 L RNK. DAUGHERTY ETAL 3,557,523`

v FooD PENDING AND PACKAGING EQUIPMENT fr sheets-sheet 4 'Filed Dec.l23, 1968 INVENTORS. POUL H. BAUMANN RALPH K .DAUGHERTY Nm um Jam.l 26,V1971 R. K. DAUGHERTY ET AL 3,557,523

FOOD FEEDING AND' PACKAGING EQUIPMENT Filed Dec. 23, 1968 'lSheets-Sheet '7 I INVENTORS. POUL H. BAUMANN RALPH K.DAUGHERTY ATTORN YSUnited States Patent O 3,557,523 v FOOD FEEDING AND PACKAGING EQUIPMENTRalph K. Daugherty and Poul' H. Baumann, San Jose, Calif., assignors ofone-,half to Genevieve I. Hanscom (formerly Genevieve I. Magnuson),Saratoga, Calif., and `one-half'to Genevieve I. Hanscom, Robert Magnusonand Lois J. Thomson (formerly Lois J. Duggan), as trustees of the estateof Roy. M. Magnuson Filed Dec. 23, 1968, Ser. No. 786,322 Int.Cl. B65b57/06, 63/02, 35/30 U.S. Cl. 53--63 16 Claims ABSTRACT or VTHEDISCLOSURE l The machine is designed to receive indiscriminatelyarranged articles and-to feed and re-arrange them in transverseandlongitudinal rows, so thatfood articles (such as doughnuts) arefedinto a collating and dispensing mechanism wherein a desired number ofdoughnuts, for example, are arrangedY ini side-by-side relation-above anopen box into whichl they are placed.

Inthe processing of doughnuts, it isv desirable that the doughnuts bepackaged automatically into a box inthe required quantityv formarketing, andto accomplish this end, it` is desirable "to have'anautomaticv means for ar- A ranging'the doughnuts in the 'required numberin a row, feeding the row to a'collating and dispensing station, fromwhich they can be'dispensed into a box or a package.

Accordingly, itis" a general object of the invention to provide a novelmeans and method for arranging indis-v cjriminatelypositionfed foodarticles such as doughnuts in an' appropriate nurnber'-y in orderlyfashion, segregating these doughnuts and placingthem 4inl a box.

- -'further object of theinvention is'to provide a mal chine of theabove character wherein the doughnuts are Patented Jan. 26, 1971 pensingand collating mechanism, the view being taken as indicated by the line7-7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view generally similar to a portion ofFIG. 6, but illustrating a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal elevational view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 8being similar to a portion of FIG. 7;

FIGS. 10 through 15 are schematic operational views illustrating thecycling of the parts controlling the feeding of the doughnuts from thechutes to a carton.

Referring to FIGS. l, 3 and 4, the machine comprises generally a mainsupply conveyor unit 10, a shuffle feed unit 11, and a collating anddispensing lunit 12. All of which will be referred to in greater detailhereafter.

A main frame (FIG. 1) of generally rectangular box frame construction isprovided upon which the shuffle feed until 11 is adjustably carried byfour support brackets 16 which have vertical slots 16a secured torespective depending side plates 17 of the shuflie feed unit 12 byrespective bolt 16b so that the shufiie feed unit can be adjustedvertically to the desired position both with respect to the mainconveyor 10 and the collating and dispensing unit 12.

In the supply conveyor 10, there is provided a belt 21 (FIGS. 1 and 4)trained about suitable idler and driven drums 22 and 23, journalled inrespective side members 24 of the conveyor unit which form part of theframe work 25 supported on the main frame 15 by box frame members 26,only one of which is seen. The drive for the feed drum 23 is through asuitable chain and sprocket connection from a drive motor 27 (FIG. l).

Positioned above the main supply conveyor 10 is a feed control mechanismincluding an auxiliary frame 31 (FIGS. l and 4) which is secured to ashaft 32 at one end which is journalled in the side members 24 and theopposite end of the frame 31 including a cross piece 33 which restsfreely on the side plates 24, for a purpose later described.

The longitudinally slotted members 36 are provided on the frame 31 whichcarry doughnut diverting or shear plates 37 and 38 which are secured tothe slotted members 36 by means of suitable fastening bolts 39. Thus,the doughnuts or food articles being conveyed along the conveyor 10 inthe direction of the arrow as shown in FIG.

apparent from t heffollovs`1ing`I description of avpreferred embodimentthereof as shown inthe attached drawings,;n which; ,y FIG. l is a sideelevationalview-of the machine; s

"'FIG. 2"is a` fragmentary operational view of the` 'up per right handportion of FIG. l illustrating the operation'of the doughnut feed;

FIG. 3" is a" front 'elevation ofthe machine as viewed from the right ofFIG. l; t i f FIG. 3A is a fragmentary side elevational view taken asvindicatedby the 1ine'3A`-3Ain FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 isa plan view of the machine;

' FIG; 5A is 'a schematic plan view illustrating the operation of thefeed of doughnuts from the shuffle feed mechanism; f

"'FIGySB is a fragmentary elevational view taken as indicated by'theline SB-SB iny FIG. 5A; N

f6 is a sectional view through the vcollating and dispensing mechanism,the view being indicatedv by the line 6- 6"in FIG. 3;

' FIG. 6A is a horizontal sectional view partially in elevation andtaken as indicated by the line 6A-6A in FIG.'6; v

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view through the dis- 4, are divertedfrom the conveyor at a desired point. Preferably the shear plates 37 and38 are coated with a friction free plastic or .release agent such asTeflon or a Teflon derivativeisuch as Kel-F. An electrical vibrator 41is also provided on the auxiliary frame 31 so as to implement releaseaction of the doughnuts from the shear plate and to facilitate andtransfer the doughnuts across the path of the conveyor belt 10` and ontoa drop chute 46 which leads to a feed hopper 47 which includes aninclined plate 47a to receive the doughnuts from the drop plate 46 andfeed them onto the shuffle feed mechanism 11.

The hopper47 includes side Walls 47b extending along each side of theshuffle feed mechanism. The shuie feed mechanism 1-1 is of the generaltype disclosed in U.S.

. Letters Patent No. 2,792,929, issued May 2l, 1957, and

comprises alternate sets of shuffle members 51 and 52 carried byrespective actuating members S3 and 54, and operated in the usualreciprocatory fashion, the shuflie members 51 moving rearwardly as theshuflie members 52 move forwardly in effecting the feed so that thearticlesare advanced step-by-step from the feed end to the storage end.The actuating members 53 and 54 are carried on respective pairs ofparallel pivoted links 56 and 57 and are actuated by a cam mechanism 58driven from a motor 59. l

At the feed end of the shuffle feeds are shuie members 51a and 52ahaving plane frontal edges to allow the flow of indiscriminatelyarranged doughnuts to spread across'the face of the flights during theirfeed over these straight edged shuflle feed members 51a and 52a. Theshule feed mechanism also includes an intermediate section of shulemembers Slb and 52b with their frontal edges scalloped to begin formingof the longitudinal rows by laning operations, and, following theintermediate scalloped shuflle members 52b and 51b, there is a straightshuffle feed member 52e` to permit sidewise movement of any doughnutswhich arrive spaced two to a pocket or scallop. The last section of theshuffle feed has scalloped members 51d and 52d for a final laningoperation.

It will be noted in general that the shule feed mechanism is at anangled position to the horizontal with the feed end lowest and with thedischarge end uppermost, and the doughnuts are thereby progressedupwardly at slight angle to the horizontal. To avoid missing the feed ofa doughnut in a pocket, preferably the forward edge of the shuflle feedmembers 51d and 52d are beveled rearwardly toward the bottom as seen inFIG. 1 to produce a restraining action on upward movement of the face ofthe doughnut being contacted.

The doughnuts therefore when they arrive at the last section 51d and 52dof the shuffle feed members are arranged in transverse rows and inlongitudinal rows or files in the appropriate number, nine in thepresent case for packing in a carton.

The doughnut collating and dispensing unit 12 (FIGS. 1, 3 and 4)comprises a plurality of adjacently situated inclined storage chutes 61which are spaced apart at their upper ends to correspond to the spacingof the lanes or pockets of the shuilie feed and which converge at theirlower ends to be closely spaced apart, separated only by the partitions62 between the respective chutes. These chutes 61 are inclined fromtheir upper ends outwardly at 61a so as to provide a rolling support fordoughnuts introduced at the upper end, as will be explained. Theinclined portions 61a lead to vertical lower portions 61b. The upperentrance end of the chutes 61 is formed by an entrance plate member 71having a planar portion 71a (FIG. l) projecting underneath the endmostshuflle feed member 51d, disposed parallel to the shuffle feed members.On the opposite side from the panel portion 71a the member 71 has aseries of cut away portions 71b providing a series of entrance openingsabove the chute 61 between a series of ribs 71c, these openingsproviding passages of a dimension of a doughnut positioned edgewise.Each entrance opening 71b is defined on one side by a straight verticalwall of the rib 71C and on the other side by curved shoulder 71d. Thecurved shoulder 71d of each rib 71e flows smoothly into a vertical wallof the passage 61 which vertical wall is in line with the center line ofone of the concavities or pockets of the adjacent shuffle feed. Adoughnut pushed over the plate member 71 and onto a rib 71e will besupported only by the rib 71c and have its center of gravity in spaceover the adjacent opening 71b to provide for tipping of the doughnutthru 90 as it falls into the opening. Thus each doughnut as it is pushedup onto the plate 71b will be in unbalanced condition and will tiltsideways into rolling relation with the cooperating chute 61 to rolldown it into position to provide a reservoir of stored doughnuts in eachone of the chutes 61. A vibrator 79 (FIG. l) is attached to the chutes61 to maintain the doughnuts in aligned condition to assist in thefeeding operation. A portion of the various chutes '61 is closed by adoor 76 (FIG. 3), having a hinged support 76a at its upper end so thatthe door 76 may be opened for inspection. Preferably this door 76 is oftransparent material to allow the doughnuts to be seen as the operationproceeds.

The lower ends of the chutes 61 (FIG. 6) is closed by movable door orescapement member 76 having a stop portion 77 normally underlying thechute 61 having a downwardly offset outer end 78 spaced downwardly fromthe stop portion 77 a distance exceeding slightly the maximum diameterof a doughnut. The door member 76 is slotted at 74 (FIG. 7) to telescopeover the walls 62 of the chutes. This door member 76 (FIGS. 6

and 7) is mounted for a horizontal reciprocating movement by means of anupright flange intermediate its ends having a pair of bosses 82 carriedby a pair of shafts 83, and also an upstanding flange 81 at its rearcarrying a bushing 113 engaged by a shaft 112. The shafts 83 aresupported in a cross frame piece 84 at the left end as seen in FIG. 6,and at the right end are slidably engaged with suitable bushings in across piece 86 of a movable rectangular carriage frame 87, a pair ofsprings 96 are mounted in their respective shafts 83 and are disposedbelow bushings 110 and adjustably mounted collar 95 and urge thecarriage 87 to the right as seen in FIG. 6. The door member 76 isbrought to the left in FIG. 6 by the spring 111.

`Referring to FIG. 6, it will be seen that when doughnuts are stored ina chute `61, the lowermost doughnut will engage and pivot a latch 91,each latch being pivoted at 92 and having its hook engaging over a latchbar 93 secured to the top of the upright flange 80 on the shelf or door76. Thus, the door or shelf 76 is not free to move to the left until afull complement of doughnuts are positioned on the shelf 76 in each ofchutes 61.

Means are provided for periodically attempting to cycle the shelf '76(FIGS. 6 and 7) to effect its movement from the position shown in FIG. 6to the left to move the lower shelf 78 underneath the chute 61, and thismeans comprises the rectangular carriage frame 87 which is urged bysprings 96 on the shafts 83 to engage its cam rollers 97 with a pair ofcams 98 on a drive shaft 99 which is journaled in the frame plates 101and 102 by bearings 103, the right end of the shaft 99, as seen in FIGS.1 and 3, is driven by chain and sprocket mechanism 107 from a motor 108.Thus, through the above described drive, the rectangular carriagecontrol or actuating frame 87 is periodically reciprocated on itssupporting shafts 83 and during this movement one of its walls 86operates against the spring 111 carried by shaft 112 (FIGS. 6 and 7)which is slidably supported in collars 113 on the upturned end 81 of thedoor members 76 as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7.

From the above description, it will be seen that on each reciprocationof the carriage frame 87, an attempted reciprocation of the door memberor plate 76 will be effected and this can only be performed if all thelatches 91 have their hooks raised to free the latch bar 93 carried bythe door 76.

Manual means are provided for lifting the doughnut stops if for somespecial reason it is wished to free the chute and allow dropping of adoughnut irrespective of completion of an entire row. Each of thedoughnut stop pawls 91 (FIG. 6) has its outer end overlying a releasebar 121, which extends underneath each of the doughnut stops 91 and iscarried by a pair of arms 122 pivoted on to the shaft 92. The shaft 92carries a suitable handle in an accessible position so that operatingthis handle al the pawls or stop members 91 can be operated.

In order to allow free dropping of the row of doughnuts from the shelfor stop portion 77 to the shelf or stop portion 78 when it is moved toactive position, retainer elements 126 (FIGS. 3 and 3a) are provided ineach chute 61 for the next doughnut above the doughnut to be discharged.Referring to FIGS. 3 and 3a, a plurality of doughnut restraining fingers126 shown in full lines in their retracted position in FIG. 3a arecarried by transverse bar 127 which is carried at the ends by a pair oflevers or arms 128 pivoted on suitable support pins 129 in the frame.One of the arms 128 extends rearwardly and has pivoted thereon at 131 adepending link 132 which is connected by a tension spring 133 to a link134 on an actuating lever 136 pivotally mounted at 137 on a frame piece128. The lever 136 has a depending ear `136a lying in front of anactuating finger 138 carried by the lower shelf 78 of the door member76. The actuating lever 136 is connected by an actuating link 139 to thepivot point 131 on the lever 128 so that upon movement of the shelf 76to the left from the position shown in the weight of the stack ofdoughnuts will not interfere with the free feeding of the lowermost rowof doughnuts.

From the above description, it will be apparent, assuming a full row ofdoughnuts are at the bottom of the respective chutes `61 that uponmovement of the escapement or door member 76 to the left as shown inFIG. 6,

the bottom row of doughnuts will be released to fall down onto theshelfy 78 when it comes underneath the bottom of the chutes, the nextrow of doughnuts above being restrained as explained. When theescapement or door member 76 is returned to position shown in FIG. 6,the row of doughnuts will be moved into position in side-byside relationbetween the vertical wall 75 of the escapement member and a fixed wall85 on the frame, and also between ay compressor means for compacting itto the length of a box. This latter means comprises a stop plate 141(FIGS. 3 and 6r) which is fixed against lateral movement but which canbe moved vertically, and a laterally reciprocating compressor plate 142carried bythe ram or plunger 143 (FIG. 3), of the pneumatic cylinder 144having suitable intake and exhaust hoses connected thereto, andconnected to a suitable solenoid valve.

The stop plate 141 (FIG. 3) comprises the bent end of a horizontal plate161- which is carried by the plunger or ram 162 of a vertically disposedpneumatic cylinder 1-63 which has respective hoses connected at its endsexcollars 151 and 152 and an ear 153 of a bracket 154 car-vil,

ried by the door or escapement member 76 is disposed between two collars151 and 152, the depending earh153 being apertured or slotted to permitits cooperation with the shaft 146 without interference. With the partsas shown in FIG. 6, the collar 151 is engaged with a roller 157 on anarm 158 to close a switch 156 for-the soleg'i noid valve. As a resultthe ram or plunger 143 of the cylinder 144 is fully extended to compressthe doughnuts between the plates 141 and 142 to the-.desired length forthe box. This results in a row of`v doughnuts being held suspendedbetween the plates 141`and 142 in posiabove the roller 158, thusreleasing the microswitch 101 from its actuation.

In this connection, it should be noted `thatthe horizon-l tal pusherplate 161 (FIGV) carriesV a rearward upstanding wall 161a which servesas a block for the forward open edges of the chutes 61 as clearly seenin FIG. 6 to prevent the doughnuts rolling out duringthe transfer fromthe shelf portion 77 to the lower shelf 78. Referring to FIG. 6, it willbe noted that in additionto the plate 161a, there is provided a pair ofguide4 plates, plate 165 and 166 which also in part block the openingsin the chutes 61.

In order to control the operation of the ram 162A and the verticalcylinder 1-63, a rst control is provided in the form of cycling cammeans on the actuating shaft 99 for the carriage frame 86 and alsopasecond control exercised by the actual position of the horizontallymovable escapement member 76. The first of these controls comprises apair of relatively adjustable cam plates 171 and 172 (FIG. 7) carried bythe shaft 99 and relatively adjustable to each other and these camplates serve to close and maintain closed a microswitch 173 for thesolenoid valve for the cylinder 163. Thus, during each rotation ofthe-shaft 99 during a certain portion of this rotation, the microswitch173 will be closed. In series with the microswitch 173 is a secondmicroswitch 177 which is controlled by an arm 178 (FIG. 6) having aroller 179 adapted to be operated to close the microswitch by a cam 181secured to the lower face of the escapement member 76 during movement tothe left from its position in FIG. 6.

Preferably the timing of the operation of the rams 143 and 162 (FIG. 3)are such that the ram 143 is retracted just ahead of the descent of theram 162 to place the doughnuts in the box so that there is insufficienttime for the doughnuts to expand sufliciently from the amount ofcompression given them before they actually enter the box.

All of the above operation has been made Jassuming that a carton is inplace ready to receive the doughnuts, and the carton conveyor carryingthe cartons comprises a pair of conveyors arranged in series. The lirstof these is a conveyor 186 trained about respective idler and drivingdrums 187 and 188 and the second of these is a conveyor 191 trainedabout its respective idler drum 192 and driving drum 193. Theseconveyors may be driven in any suitable fashion through a chain andsprocket drive 194 from a motor 196. Above the conveyors 186 and 191there are provided suitable guide rails 197. The upper stretch of theseconveyors run on a platform 189 (FIGS. 3 and 6).

AIn order to prevent misfeeding of doughnuts when no carton is present,a no-carton, no-doughnut feed is provided and this takes the form of alever 201 (PIG. 6) which is secured to a vertical shaft 202 and isspringurged by spring 203 into position overlying the belt 186. Theshaft 203 (FIG. 6) carries at its upper end a lever 204 having avertical lug 204a at its end. The lug 204a is positioned in front of ablock 206 secured to a plate extension 207 depending from the door orescapement member 76 and serves to hold the escapement member 76 VLfrommoving to the left in FIG. 6 Whenever there is no `carton present tomove the ylever 201 to its inactive position.

One purpose of providing the two belts 186 and 191 is to provide forfast release of a iilled carton and the belt 1.91 through appropriategearing runs at considerably higher speed than the belt 186. Means isprovided for holding the carton in place against the friction of theconstantly running belt 186 underneath it and this takes ,the place of acarton holding and release bar 211 (FIG.

6) which is mounted on a vertical pin 212 pivoted in a bracket 213 andnormally urged to position shown by spring 214. The arm 211 is urgedagainst stop formed by the frame plate 216. The member 211 has avhookend or projection 211a which extends out into the path of the carton andholds it there until released and then extends lparallel to the conveyorfor some distance to the point 214 of pivoting, thus forming a-bellcrank lever whose .inner projecting end carries a roller 217 forcooperation with an alternator or one-way arm 218 which is pivotallymounted on pin 219 carried by a bracket 221 secured to the underside ofthe door or escapement member 76. The arm 214 is normally urged` againsta portion of the bracket 221 by a spring 222 and the lower end of thealternator or one-way arm 218 is twisted at a 45 angle to the directionof travel of the door member 76. Upon moving from the position shownwith the door or escapement member 76, the member 218 will yield or passaround on ythe roller 257, but on the return movement, the arm 21'8 isunyielding and will rock the lever 211 in a direction to withdraw thehook 211a so that the carton will be released and quickly removed fromits filling position.

Upon escape of the carton, the hook or latch 211a collating unit will befilled so that doughnuts fed by the next reciprocation or feeding actionof the shuffie feed mechanism will be fed over the top of the plate 171,and will slide down the inclinedl face 231 of the chute mecha- -uism(FIG. l), over a diverter plate 232 and onto a retu'rn conveyor 233extending acrossthe face of the'chut'e mechanism' as seen in FIGS. 1 and4, and then will be` discharged onto an elevating conveyor 234 extendingupwardly at the side of the shule feed mechanism and then downwardlythrough a discharge belt 236 onto'the feed end of the shuffle 'feedmechanism. The belts 233,

234 and'236 are suitably driven in any convenient manner. Y

From this it will be seen that any surplus doughnuts are recirculatedand carried back into the feed end of the doughnut feeding, collatingand dispensing mechamsm.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a modified form of the invention i wherein means isprovided if a doughnut is in each chute ready to be fed to a box, thenthe no-doughnut sensing fingers are removed to inactive position duringthe feeding operation. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, one of the arms 122carrying the doughnut sensing pawl lifting rod 121 has secured theretoan integral downward extension 241 which is pivotally connected at 242at its lower end to a link 243 disposed below and parallel to the dooror escapement member 76. Link 243 has a horizontal slot 244 whichengages a pin 246 carried on a depending bracket 247 secured there tothe shelf or door ymember 76. The pin 246 is normally toward the righthand end of the slot 244 so that initial movement of the shelf 76 to theleft to permit dispensing of the lowest row of doughnuts will effectmovement of the pin 246 to the left end of the slot 244. If one of thepawls or doughnut sensing members 91 is not lifted, the bar 93 willengage this pawl before the pin 246 engages the left hand end of theslot 244. However, if all of the pawls 91 have been rocked by doughnutsbeing aligned therewith then the pin 246 will move with the door member76. This operates the link 243 to move the arms 241 and 122 and the rod121 to lift all of the pawls 91 free of the doughnuts. This releaseprevents wiping action on the doughnuts due to interference with theirmovement and would also tend to'wipe them free of any coverings such asa glaze or a powdered sugar.

Also in this modification the operating crank 248 (FIG. 9) for thedoughnut sensing pawl release is shown. This operating crank isconnected by a sleeve 249 and an arm 251 through a spring 252 to thelever 122. In this way when a pawl is frictionally engaged with the bar93, the spring 252 will yield, and no lifting of the /pawl will occur.However, if all pawls l91 are free from the bar 93 (FIG. 5)A by thediverting or shear plates 37 and 38, these plates and their supportingframe being vibrated toy assist feeding action and the doughnuts arethen carried down onto the shufiie feed mechanism-wherein the doughnutsare arranged in transverse rows and also longitudinal rows by thepockets in the scalloped face of the shuffle feed members 51 and 52.Referring to FIGS. 4, 5A and 5B, the final' shufide feed fiight member51d pushes the doughnuts onto the members 71 over the slots 71C so thatwith the doughnut positioned as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B it must turn 90on the rib 71c and fall into the en- `france end of the aligned chute61. This is done successivelyon each cycle of reciprocation of theshuffle feed,

'assuming no doughnuts are taken from the lower end until the variouschutes 61 are full. The chutes 61 are vibrat'ed'to assist the feedingaction of the doughnuts. At this timef'the excess doughnuts will bepushed over thetop of the member 71 down the face of the chutelmechanism and into the return conveyor means as previ- "ouslydescribed.

l'Referring to FIG. 10 the parts are shown in their 'condition at'thetime of the beginning of a feeding operation, the ram 162 being in itsretracted position (switches 173 and 177 open), 'the ram 143 being inits extended position (switch 156 closed), and the escapement member`"I6 being in its rightmost position blocking the feed of aswas the casein FIG. l1. It will be noted in FIGS. 1l

andl 12 that'the ram 162 is extended (switches 173 and 177 closed), thisstroke of the ram 162 and the plate 161 being ineffective at thebeginning of the operation.

FIG. 13 illustrates the next condition of the parts wherein the plunger162 has been retracted due to the opening of the switch 173 by the cam171, and the cylinder 144 remains inactive because the switch 156remains open.

"FIG. 14 illustrates when the escapement member 76 is'ag'ain broughtforward to place the row of doughnuts V'on thel 'shelf 78 between thecompressor plates 141 and 142,'and the next step of movement isillustrated in FIG. ,1;4 where the compressor plates move in to compressthe doughnuts above the box C ready for delivery to the box.

As shown in FIG. 15 the ear 153 on the escapement member 76 has justengaged the collar 152 to move the "collar 151 and open switch 156 andthereby cause the yplunger of the cylinder 144 to retract. Thisoperation occurs just ahead ofthe condition of the parts shown in FIG.15 where the ram 162 of the cylinder 163 has v"again been extended bythe simultaneous closing of the switches l173 and 177, thus restoringthe parts to the condition shown in FIG. 11. Note also that the posi-`tonof the parts shown in FIG. 14 is identical with that shown in FIG.10. This last operation of the ram 162 andthe plate v161 serves to placethe doughnuts D in the cartOnC. This operation takes place withsufficient rapidity that the doughnuts have not had time to expandbeyond the length 'of the box.

` -`If, during this sequence there had not been a full row of doughnutsin the bottom position, one of the latches 'or pawls 91 will remainactive with respect to the bar 95 -(FIG. 6,) and restrain the slide 76.from moving under the actuation of the carriage 86, and the parts merelycontinue cycling until the last doughnut is present when the last pawlwill be lifted and the filling operation will proceed.

Also, if there were nobox present, the arm 201 remains in, itstriggering position, and the lug 204a remains in blocking position withrespect to the slide or door memberf76 .to keep it in its position.

While the machine has been described as collating and inserting ninedoughnuts in each carton, a fewer number of doughnuts canbe collated andinserted by placing blocking-strips at the-top of a desired number ofchutes `61 so that doughnuts fed to these chutes are simply bypassedover to the return conveyor. At the same time the stroke of the ram 143`is adjusted in accordance with the number of doughnuts. Appropriateadjustment of the shear plates 318 can also be made to direct thedoughnuts into the desired portion of the shuffle feed conveyor.

While we have shown and described a preferred embodiment of theinvention, it Will be understood that the invention is capable ofvariation and modiication from the form shown so that the scope thereofshould be limited only by the proper scope of the claims appendedhereto.

We claim:

1. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles such asdoughnuts and for placing the articles in a plurality of single tilearrays arranged in rows for subsequent handling,` a conveyor having afeed end for receiving articles and having a discharge end, saidconveyor including means for advancing articles row-by-row from saidfeed end toward said discharge end in timed relation, said conveyor alsoincluding means adjacent the discharge end providing a transverse arrayof pocket means to control the spacing of said articles in transverserows whereby articles are formed as spaced longitudinal tiles and spacedtransverse rows, a plurality of receptacles positioned across saiddischarge end for direct feed of articles thereto by said conveyor, eachreceptacle being positioned to receive an article from an associated one`of said pocket means as each transverse row is discharged from saidconveyor, and means for operating said conveyor.

2. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 1, in which said conveyor comprises a shuiile feedconveyor, including respective sets of reciprocatory shufe members toadvance the articles row-by-row, and in which said transverse array ofpocket means are provided in the article advancing face of the shufflefeed members.

3. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 2, in which certain of said shufe feed members havetheir article advancing faces inclined from their upper edge rearwardlyto their lower edge.

4. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 2, in which said shufe feed conveyor is inclinedupwardly from the feed end to the discharge end, and in which saidreceptacles having feed openings positioned in a plane continuing theinclination of said shuiile feed conveyor.

5. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 1, in which a bypass return means is provided toreceive overliow articles when said receptacles are full and includingmeans for returning said articles to the feed end of said conveyor.

6. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 1, in which said plurality of receptacles comprisesubstantially vertically disposed passage means having converging lowerends to place articles therein in side-by-side relation, and means isprovided for controlling discharge of the lowermost row of articles fromsaid array of passage means, and also includes compressor means forgripping the articles by engaging the endmost ones and compressing themas a row to hold them in suspended position, and means for dischargingsaid row of articles and for placing them in a container.

7. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles such asdoughnuts and for placing the articles in a plurality of single lfilearrays for packaging, a plurality tion for admitting one article fromeach chute to said lower shelf portion in another position of saidmember, means mounting said escapement member for back and forthmovement between said two positions, cyclically operable operating meansfor effecting said back and forth movement of said member on saidmounting means, a container holding station cooperatively related tosaid escapement member in the projected position of said escapementmember, and means for preventing operation of said escapement member ifa full row of articles is not present in said chutes.

8. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 7, in lwhich means is also provided for preventingoperation of said escapement member if no box is present at said boxholding station.

9. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 7, in which said operation preventing means consists ofa plurality of article responsive elements, each of which isindividually responsive to the presence of an article in one of saidchutes.

10. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 9, in which means is provided for completely holdingsaid elements out of operative relation with said chutes after eachelement has individually moved to indicate the presence of an article inthe corresponding chute.

11. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 7, in which said cyclically operating drive means forsaid escapement member includes a yieldable drive connection to saidescapement member.

12. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles suchas doughnuts, as recited in claim 11, in which means is provided forblocking movement of said escapement member in the event the machine isnot properly conditioned for operation to effect yielding of saidyieldable means.

13. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 7, in which means is provided for releasing a iilledbox under control of said escapement member during the reciprocationthereof.

14. In a machine for receiving indiscriminately arranged articles asrecited in claim 7, in which means is provided for compressing thearticles into engagement with each other to less than the full length ofthe box to prepare them for insertion into the box, and means isthereafter operable to insert said members in said box as they arereleased from said compressing means, said last named means comprising avertically movable ram controlled by said cyclically operable means andby said escapement member to effect movement of the articles as a row inthe box.

1S. In a machine as recited in claim 7, including means controlled bysaid escapement member for restraining the next row above the row to bedischarged by said escapement member so as to free said last-named rowfor unimpeded movement.

16. In a machine as recited in claim 5, in which means is provided forblocking a desired number of the receptacles to cause return ofdoughnuts to said bypass return means, and in which means is providedfor controlling the feed of articles to said conveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,656,656 10/ 1953 Murdoch et al.53-61 TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

